Is your question about wiring or about financing?

The question is about what, parts of a home theater can be included in the build and loan. I updated the post to clarify.

In our case with a VA loan it came down to what the home would appraise for. They didn't care what was included as long as it met their basic standards and appraised for the amount needed for the loan.

Sandy: That was a great point!

That exact reality is something dead center on my radar.

We are adding quite a few upgrades but most should have a significant impact on the value.

Just be careful... Sometimes appraisals exclusively focus on square footage and number of beds & baths, and how those components compare with the other sold homes in your area. Don't wanna overbuild with too much cool stuff. ;-)

I would highly suggested to hire a professional AV expert to install your system or receive advice. The builder will not have a clue about the 5.1, 7.1, or 9.1 sound system. Installing a projector will require research from yourself and from a AV expert to help select the right one for the size of your room. You will need to make sure that you have the sitting position in place to know the size of your screen, because you don't want to sit close to a 110" screen. Again I would highly recommended to speak with a expert, because like me I am building a home and have a media room in the architectural plan. I have Best Buy Magnolia give me different options of what is needed and their expert advice is free. I am buying some equipment from them to make a nice cool commission.

Thanks for the thoughts so far!!

While there will be plenty of projects and upgrades in the near and far future for this house but I'm trying to make sure that when the dust settles most of the key things are ready to go from day one! Also, including these things in the build/loan simply helps them happen where if they were not, we would have to wait and compromise on choice at that!

Also, I already have a big project for the home theater that I need to get to, my custom sub using this driver:

http://loudmagnet.com/html/pdf/CSS-SDX15-data-121107.pdf

It is in a temporary enclosure at the moment but I'm looking to build a IB box with a very low target frequency.

As to the build, it will be installed by reasonably skilled techs, but I will be doing the design with help. I have been working with AV since the 80s and while I'm no expert per say, I'm very comfortable in that space.

Unless money has freed up a LOT in the past couple of years - I would not expect to have a ton "extra" money available in an appraisal / loan process to spend on this project. I would also caution you on not having enough in your overall contingency and putting too much emphasis on the home theater. All sorts of things vie for your money DURING the build process, and every change / upgrade / nuance / etc is more expensive than you ever thought it would be.

Lastly - VA loans are usually low down payment / high loan to value loans - so there may not be a lot of headroom for extras.